Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Tenth meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: My Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (James Cleverly), has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:The Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee met today, 24 March 2023, in London with delegates attending in person and by video conference. The meeting was co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the Rt Hon James Cleverly MP and European Commission Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič. A Joint Statement was agreed and published on GOV.UK.The Committee welcomed the agreement of the Windsor Framework and adopted the new arrangements set out within the Framework. The adoption of this agreement restores the free-flow of trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland through a new green lane; it gives the elected representatives of Northern Ireland a veto over new laws that apply there; and protects Northern Ireland’s place in our Union through fixing practical problems including on pets, parcels and medicines and ensuring that UK decisions on tax and spend benefit people and businesses in Northern Ireland as they do in Great Britain.The Committee addressed other important issues including the rights of UK nationals in the EU and EU citizens in the UK. Both sides agreed on the importance of continuing to support these citizens and welcomed the efforts made over the past year to do so, including additional funding provided by both sides to external organisations.The Committee also received an update on the work of the Withdrawal Agreement Specialised Committees since the last meeting on 21 February 2022 and adopted the Withdrawal Agreement Annual Report for the year 2021 pursuant to Article 164(6) of the Withdrawal Agreement.The Committee adopted one Decision laying down arrangements relating to the Windsor Framework.The Committee also adopted two Recommendations:on market surveillance and enforcement,on Article 13(3a) of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern IrelandBoth the UK and EU made five Joint Declarations relating to the Windsor Framework:Joint Declaration No 1/2023Joint Declaration on the application of Article 10(1) of the Windsor FrameworkJoint Declaration on Article 13(3a) of the Windsor FrameworkJoint Declaration No 2/2023Joint Declaration on the VAT regime for goods not being at risk for the Union’s internal market and on the VAT arrangements for cross border refundsThe UK made five Unilateral Declarations and the EU made Unilateral Declarations noting these:Unilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom Involvement of the institutions of the 1998 Agreement (Annex I to the Decision No 1/2023 laying down arrangements relating to the Windsor Framework)Unilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom on market surveillance and enforcement - noted by the Unilateral Declaration by the UnionUnilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom on export procedures for goods moving from Northern Ireland to other parts of the United Kingdom - noted by the Unilateral Declaration by the UnionUnilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom on the democratic consent mechanism in Article 18 of the Windsor Framework - noted by the Unilateral Declaration by the UnionUnilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom on strengthening enforcement action for goods moved in parcels from another part of the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland - noted by the Unilateral Declaration by the Union.

Second Meeting of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement Partnership Council

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: My Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (James Cleverly), has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:The Trade and Cooperation Agreement Partnership Council met today, 24 March 2023, in London, with delegates attending in person and by video conference.The meeting was co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the Rt Hon James Cleverly MP and European Commission Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič. Representatives from the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive attended, as did representatives from the Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. 27 EU Member State representatives also attended. A Joint Statement was agreed and published on GOV.UK.The Partnership Council discussed implementation of the TCA and cooperation in a range of areas including energy, regulation, security and Union Programmes.The Partnership Council supervises the operation of the TCA, providing strategic direction to the work of the Trade Partnership Committee and 18 Specialised Committees.The UK restated its commitment to cooperating with the EU through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement Partnership Council.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Update on Building Safety

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: My Right Honourable friend the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations (The Rt Hon. Michael Gove MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:On 14 March, I announced that 39 developers had signed the developer remediation contract. By signing the contract, they made binding commitments to fix or pay to fix life-critical fire safety defects in all buildings in England over 11 metres that they had a role in developing or refurbishing over the past 30 years. This amounts to an irreversible commitment to making safe at least 1,100 buildings at a cost of over £2 billion.Update on Responsible Actors SchemeLast week, I also told the House that there will be consequences for companies that do not sign the contract. I warned that they will be prohibited from commencing developments in England or gaining building control sign-off on their developments, unless they sign and adhere to the contract. I said that we will lay regulations this Spring to establish a Responsible Actors Scheme. The regulations will recognise the positive action of responsible developers and will make sure that eligible developers who do not sign and comply with the contract will be unable to be members of the Scheme, and therefore be subject to prohibitions. I will lay regulations that will, with Parliament’s consent, bring the Scheme into operation before the Summer Recess.Today, I am publishing the key features of the Responsible Actors Scheme on GOV.UK and placing a copy of the information in the libraries of both Houses. The key features document sets out how the Scheme will work, the likely eligibility criteria and membership conditions for the first phase of the Scheme, how developers will apply to join the Scheme and the prohibitions that will be imposed on eligible developers that fail to sign the contract and comply with its terms.Developers who want to be part of the Scheme will need to sign the developer remediation contract and comply with its terms. In its first phase, the Scheme will focus on larger residential property developers and developers who developed multiple tall residential buildings known to have life-critical fire safety defects. Over time, I intend to expand the Scheme to cover even more of those who developed unsafe 11m+ residential buildings and should pay to fix them.Eligible developers will be invited to join the Scheme by a statutory deadline or provide evidence that they do not in fact meet the eligibility criteria. Any eligible developer who chooses not to join the Scheme, or who is expelled from the Scheme as a result of a material or persistent breach of its conditions, will be added to a list of developers who will not be permitted to carry out major development or secure building control sign-offs.The message to those developers who have yet to sign the contract, their shareholders and investors could not be clearer. The Responsible Actors Scheme is coming. Only developers who behave responsibly will be trusted to build the homes of the future. Any eligible developers who fail to do the right thing will need to find a new line of work.Update on signatories to the developer remediation contractAt the time of my statement of 14 March, 11 developers had yet to sign. I named those companies and called on their directors to reflect on their future and do the right thing. Today, I can confirm that 4 of those 11 companies have since signed the contract: Ballymore, Lendlease, London Square and Telford Homes. The 7 developers who have yet to sign the contract are: Abbey Developments, Avant, Dandara, Emerson Group (Jones Homes), Galliard Homes, Inland Homes and Rydon Homes. Some of those companies have told us that they remain committed to protecting leaseholders and taxpayers from having to pay, and claim that they will sign the contract in coming days.As I made plain last week, I will write to local authorities and building inspectors to explain the consequences for those companies that remain non-signatories at the point that the regulations creating the Responsible Actors Scheme come into force. I will suggest action that local authorities may want to take to be prepared for implementation of the scheme, to ensure that any companies that do not wish to act responsibly do not profit from that behaviour – and that the public is protected as a result.Given possible market sensitivities, I notified the London Stock Exchange about the key features document.